Three million Afghan refugees would be repatriated to Afghanistan by next year under a tripartite agreement between the UN High Commission for Refugees, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan's Minister for States and Frontier Regions Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind says. There are 1.4 million registered and an estimated 1.6 million unregistered Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Rind told the state-run Pakistan Television. Under the agreement, all these refugees would be repatriated to their homeland within the set timeframe, he added. The minister said a census programme was already in process with the coordination of the UNHCR. The zero phase of this census has been accomplished under which areas have been identified where the refugees are settled, he said. The minister said that during phase I, counting of refugees would be made, and in the second phase, they would be issued documents.
